If you already know the full story behind this question, than skip right to the poll. If you want some information about what Limbaugh has been getting away with saying on Armed Forces Radio (while Ed Shultz, a moderate Democrat, had his show yanked a few hours before his first broadcast) then read the story below first which is extracted from a discussion on another DU thread that you may or may not have already seen:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2170229&mesg_id=2170229 The current controversy, which should not be controversial at all, about Armed Forces Radio blocking Ed Shultz from being added to their broadcast line up seems routine and almost dull until you learn what they currently broadcast to our men and women serving in uniform. Thanks to the efforts of "Fairness and Accuracy In Media", and to "Media Matters" it is easy to trace and show that Rush Limbaugh, as recently as this September, continues to keep alive and on the air the totally debunked rumor first broadcast on his show that the Clintons had their close personal friend Vince Foster murdered. And this is being fed to our military today.
It seems that, unlike Ed Shultz, Armed Forces Radio has no problem broadcasting Rush Limbaugh to our non partisan defenders of American liberty, but do you remember when Rush Limbaugh started spreading rumors that the Clintons had then deputy White House counsel Vincent Foster murdered? Yup, spreading rumors that the Commander in Chief, the democratically elected Resident of the United States and our First Lady, plotted the murder of long time Clinton friend Vince Foster.
First, let's go back in history to some of the broadcasts made by a man who Republicans in Congress successfully lobbied, eleven years ago, should be broadcast to our troops over Armed Forces Radio. On Rush Limbaugh's March 10th 2004 broadcast, which I note was a little over 11 years ago and was therefor already public record when the push to get Limbaugh onto Armed Forces Radio was made, Limbaugh made this announcement:
"OK, folks, I think I got enough information here to tell you about the contents of this fax that I got. Brace yourselves. This fax contains information that I have just been told will appear in a newsletter to Morgan Stanley sales personnel this afternoon.... What it is is a bit of news which says...there's a Washington consulting firm that has scheduled the release of a report that will appear, it will be published, that claims that Vince Foster was murdered in an apartment owned by Hillary Clinton, and the body was then taken to Fort Marcy Park."
My source is this archived page from F.A.I.R. but there are others:
http://www.fair.org/extra/9407/koppel-limbaugh.html This F.A.I.R. report goes on to say:
"Limbaugh was referring to an item in a newsletter put out by the Washington, D.C. firm of Johnson Smick International. The newsletter, relating a rumor that has no apparent basis in fact, reported that White House attorney Foster's suicide occurred in an apartment owned by White House associates, and that his body was moved to the park where it was found.
Limbaugh took this baseless rumor from a small insiders' newsletter and broadcast it to his radio audience of millions, adding his own new inaccuracies: The newsletter did not report--as Limbaugh claimed--that Foster was murdered, or that the apartment was owned by Hillary Rodham Clinton. Limbaugh's repetition of an unfounded rumor has been credited (Chicago Tribune, 3/11/94; Newsweek, 3/21/94) with contributing to a plunge in the stock market on the day it was aired."
Limbaugh later appeared on an ABC special hosted by Ted Koppel (ABC Viewpoint, 4/19/94) exploring press coverage of "Whitewater". There he flatly denied suggesting in any way that Foster was murdered "Never have I suggested that this was murder," he said. However quoting again from the F.A.I.R. archive linked above:
"The executive producer of Limbaugh's TV show, Roger Ailes (a Republican campaign consultant and president of the CNBC cable network), didn't claim that his star had debunked the rumor--he boasted that Limbaugh's report of "a suicide cover up, possibly murder" was a scoop. On the Don Imus radio show, Ailes remarked: "The guy who's been doing an excellent job for the New York Post ...for the first time on the Rush Limbaugh show said that...he did not believe it was suicide.... Now, I don't have any evidence.... These people are very good at hiding or destroying evidence."
One might say that Rush Limbaugh's opinion could have differed from Roger Ailes' opinion, or that Roger Ailes did not come right out and say that Clinton had Foster murdered. I suppose one could make that case. However Limbaugh, in his smirky swarmy way, is still at his President and First Lady Clinton were murderers insinuations. Long after Republican coup appointed special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, who forced the reopening of the investigation into Foster's death, finally conceded that Foster indeed committed suicide, Limbaugh won't let it go.
Here are two remarks Rush Limbaugh made much more recently in 2004, documented by Media Matters, where he again made reference to the "rumor" about our then sitting Commander in Chief, which Limbaugh claims he had nothing to do with spreading. This is just a sample of some of the stuff that is deemed fit to be broadcast over Armed Forces Radio by Bush's censors, since Limbaugh, unlike Ed Schultz, is currently cleared to be aired:
"Media Matters for America has also documented two recent instances in which Limbaugh referred to Fort Marcy Park (in Northern Virginia, where Foster's body was found after he committed suicide), resurrecting the long-discredited right-wing claim that Vince Foster was murdered and that the Clintons were involved:
LIMBAUGH: That's why I'm telling you, whoever briefed Janet Reno, start searching Fort Marcy Park, folks. <4/13/04>
LIMBAUGH: They know that -- they're pretty confident Kerry is going to lose and if Kerry wins there's always Fort Marcy Park. So they're rolling the dice on this. <4/15/04>"
http://mediamatters.org/items/200406280004 Want another? OK this from a separate Media Matters page focused on coverage regarding Sandy Berger and his unauthorized possession of classified information, quoting from his July 2004 broadcast:
LIMBAUGH: One thing we can be sure of, ladies and gentlemen, is these missing documents will not show up in the Map Room of the White House like the Rose Law Firm billing records, unless there is a former Clinton administration official who can worm his way back into the White House and plant them there -- and Sandy Burglar, stay away from Fort Marcy Park."
Quote taken from bottom of this linked page:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200407230001#20050921 Or how about much more recently, say in September of 2005? Again, from Media Matters, their September 21 2005 Report:
From the September 20 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: Time for another big-time El Rushbo, "See, I told you so!" Yesterday, I read a story about Cindy Sheehan in which she called out Hillary Rodham and said that Mrs. Rodham would soon be changing her mind on troops in Iraq and be demanding that they come home. And if she didn't, she might live to regret it, or words to that effect.
I said, "You don't say this about Hillary Clinton. You don't say this." I said, "By the time this story was published and Mrs. Clinton heard about it, operatives of Mrs. Clinton will have gotten to Cindy Sheehan, and she will never, ever mention Hillary's name again."
So, The New York Times today: "In an anti-war speech by Cindy Sheehan, the mother of an American soldier killed in Iraq, was cut short yesterday after the organizer of the event was arrested and police officers confiscated his audio equipment.
"Mrs. Sheehan has not shied away from controversy, opening her New York visit on Sunday night in Brooklyn, by accusing Senator Hillary Rodham of failing to challenge the Bush administration's policies in Iraq. Ms. Sheehan, who did not mention Ms. Clinton yesterday..." Da, da, da, da, da, da, da and she will not mention her again, ladies and gentlemen, unless she wants to end up in Fort Marcy Park. Mark my words on it."
http://mediamatters.org/items/200509210002 So I forget, what was it again that Ed Schultz said that was so unflattering to Americas Commander in Chief that he got barred from Armed Forces Radio? Must have been pretty disrespectful, to top the stuff that Rush is allowed to put out.
We all need to join Wes Clark, if you haven't already done so, in demanding that Ed Shultz be allowed to broadcast on Armed Forces Radio as had previously been agreed to:
http://ga4.org/campaign/edschultz/step1.tcl